


Merry Christmas

by catphistopheles



Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, adorable holiday fluff, bucky returned from Hydra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 11:59:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8712976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catphistopheles/pseuds/catphistopheles
Summary: Steve tries to surprise Bucky with some adorable holiday cheer and kind of screws up, but it turns out OK in the end.





	

Bucky was sleeping peacefully when an enormous crash sounded from the living room. Instinctively he grabbed the gun from between the wall and the mattress and stalked out, unsure of what he was expecting to find. As he rounded the corner with the gun held aloft, he froze. 

And so did Steve, halfway through sweeping up the remnants of a vase of poinsettias that hadn’t been there when Bucky had gone to sleep. They stared at each other for a moment, Bucky trying desperately to get his brain to chill from assassin mode, and Steve just looking like a guilty deer in the headlights. 

Bucky took a moment to glance around the room and spotted several boxes, including one as tall as he was, piled up in the empty corner. His brows knit together. 

Steve sighed in defeat and quickly finished sweeping up the glass, quickly depositing the shards in the bin. “I was trying to surprise you.” 

“Surprise me?” Bucky said, voice still hoarse from sleep.

“For God’s sake, Buck, put the gun down,” Steve sighed again, still looking adorably defeated. “I bought all this stuff for you. For the morning. I mean, I wanted to surprise you but clearly I’m worse than a bull in a china shop, so that’s gone to pot.”

Eyeing his boyfriend with suspicion, Bucky crossed the room and peered more closely at the boxes. There was a portable Sirius Radio player, three bags of LED twinkle lights on strands, four clear packages of...was that…

“Baubles. You were gonna surprise me with baubles?” Bucky tried not to grin, he knew it would only embarrass Steve further. 

Steve was embarrassed anyways. “Well, no, the big box has a tree in it.”

Seeing Bucky’s mouth pop open slightly, he quickly added, “A fake tree. I know it’s not the same as when we were kids, but I just thought…”

So Steve was going to Christmas up the place just to surprise him. He had put so much thought into it. Something else caught his eye--another couple of bags from the superstore down the block, but this one had more poinsettias and some very pretty garlands. Steve had truly gone all out, and all for him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually had the chance to decorate for christmas, it wasn’t like Hydra hung a flocked wreath on his cryo tank or anything. He had brief flashes of memories from long ago that included saving up for a tree from the pop up store on the corner, decorating it with popcorn and cranberries on strands of fishing wire… But even after his rescue from Hydra he hadn’t dared to believe he was worthy of something as pure as Christmas. But Steve, bless him, clearly thought otherwise. Bucky quickly crossed the room and stopped Steve’s muttering by slanting their mouths together in a very intense kiss. 

Steve made a small surprised noise but quickly acquiesced to the kiss by carding his fingers through Bucky’s hair, and for a few moments they focused on only each other. The press of their torsos meeting, the gentle whisper of their clothing shifting and the soft rasp of their breath. It was the kind of kiss that warmed you from head to toe with emotion and not lust, the kind that left you breathless and with glassy eyes. The kind of kiss that really and truly meant everything without saying a word. 

They slowly broke the kiss and Bucky pressed their foreheads together.

“I want to help,” he said, breathless. “P-please.”

Steve opened his eyes and looked at his lover with all the compassion in the world.

“Let’s get to it, then?”

“ _ Yeah _ .”

* * *

 

The first thing Steve did was open the portable radio, plug it in, and fiddle with it for a few moments. He kept muttering about an activation code as he rifled through the packaging, hunched over the sleek black machine like a giant. Bucky chuckled and continued unpacking the decorations, taking stock of what they had. 

Christmas decorations had changed quite a bit since his memories. There were no popcorn or cranberries on fishing line, and the tinsel was all wrong. It was weirdly fuzzy, like a feather boa, and caught the light so well it made Bucky squint. He had to admit the lights were neat. There were white ones, and then multicolored ones, and then red and white ones that reminded him of candy canes. Steve had picked an assortment of baubles in coordinated sets--reds and golds and silvers. 

Since he wasn’t exactly sure if there was a method to the tree decorating these days, he went about tacking the garlands over the hearth and door frames and placing poinsettia vases in strategic places around the living room. He stepped back and admired his work. 

Suddenly Bing Crosby was crooning to  _ White Christmas _ from the direction of the kitchen counter. He turned and found Steve grinning triumphantly next to it. 

“We can’t do the tree without the music,” he said, still grinning, as he grabbed the big box still leaning in the corner. “Wait till you see the one I picked, it’s perfect!” 

Bucky hadn’t seen Steve this happy since he’d come back from Hydra. He found himself actually getting excited as Steve cut the box open and quickly assembled the three tiers of the artificial tree. Steve motioned him over and showed him how to unfold the individual points of the tree, and when it was finished they stepped back to take in the general splendor. 

It was magnificent, even for a fake tree. It was about seven feet tall, wide at the base, fully flocked but not  _ overly _ so, to resemble a tree just brought in from the snow. 

“Oh! And!” Steve dove for something under the tree and suddenly the entire thing was glowing with white lights. 

Bucky blinked. “So why did you buy more lights?” 

“Because you can’t have too many lights. You’ll see.” Steve grabbed one bundle of multicolored lights and tossed Bucky one of the candy cane bundles, and they got to work. Once it was all said and done Bucky had to agree with Steve--the addition of five more strands really did make it look some sort of  _ magical _ . Steve was practically vibrating with happiness as he handed him the weird tinsel and showed him how to wrap it around the tree. 

Then came the baubles. 

Then came the tree topper, which Steve carefully unboxed to show to Bucky. It was a beautiful 3 dimensional stained glass star that perfectly complimented the colors on the tree. Bucky found himself full out grinning at the final addition. It was beautiful. It was perfect. It was uniquely theirs and properly Christmas-y. 

Bucky didn’t notice him step away until the apartment went dark, lit only by the ambient christmas lights. It filled the apartment with a warm glow that warmed Bucky’s heart. He felt Steve step behind him and felt Steve’s arms wrap around his middle. For the first time in a very long time, Bucky finally felt normal and happy. 

Steve’s lips pressed against the side of Bucky’s neck. Bucky purred and leaned into the contact. 

“Whaddya say we christen the tree right here in the living room?” Steve rumbled into Bucky’s ear. 

Bucky didn’t need convincing. He spun in Steve’s arms and kissed him full on the lips, inching the hem of his sweater up over his stomach.

**Author's Note:**

> I decorated the house for Christmas today and didn't have the heart to write the sad chapter in Attention! today so here's a happier little oneshot to hold you guys over until my cynicism returns. :D


End file.
